Feodora got tired of waiting for her turn to use the computer, so she bought herself a new one. The 27" monitor was 40% off on the day that she bought it. She bought the computer a week later. The computer system (Dell XPS 8920) has more memory, a better graphics card, and an internal hard drive that is faster and larger than is in 'my' computer (Dell Inspiron 530 with a 17" monitor, circa 2009).

We talked about where she would put her computer long before she ordered it. Before the monitor arrived, I started moving things around so that she could use the other computer desk. On the first day of this project, I started re-arranging the living room at 6 am. It was noon before I got out of the shower. I moved the Gateway computer, the other computer desk, Feodora's clothes rack, her crate, my bicycle, and the filing cabinet. It took me a few tries over a period of three days to make things fit.

Before re-arranging the living room.Feodora's clothes rack was next to the television.

Feodora's crate is behind her. The other computer desk is behind her crate.

You can see the top edge of my computer (gray tower case) in front of Feodora. The Gateway computer (circa 1999) was on the desk behind Feodora's crate. I moved her crate a couple of times before I decided where best to keep it.

Making things fit in the available space.

My bicycle was behind Feodora's rolling garment rack when it was on the other side of the room. I placed them both here temporarily to get a feel of how they would fit. That plastic window film is intended to keep dust and cat hair off of the clothes. There is a large cardboard box (flattened out) on top of the rack where I keep a few of the wigs. Some time ago, I damaged the rack when I tried to move it. Now it needs to be braced or it will fall over.

I have two other rolling garment racks that I keep for things like Dollstock. They are disassembled and stored until needed. I had to relocate all of the clothes to these racks before I could move the one that Feodora uses. After this picture was taken, I moved the filing cabinet across the room.

I put the Gateway computer tower back in the corner (behind the filing cabinet in the picture above). The Gateway monitor (big old CRT) is now on the floor in front of my bicycle's front tire. After this picture was taken, I put Feodora's crate where the filing cabinet is in the picture above.

Once I was satisfied as to where to put the clothes rack, I put her clothes back on it.

Feodora checks on her Zoo Pets.

Feodora taking some notes.

There is a flatbed scanner on top of the filing cabinet. It is old, slow and requires a printer port that is no longer supplied on modern computers. My HP 7510 All-In-One printer has a scanner built in that is much faster. 'Princess' Feodora likes the Princess telephone, so I gave it to her.

The DAZ Dream Home, exterior view.

The Dell XPS 8920 has a shiny black case. It shows fingerprints and gathers dust like a magnet. The headphone and microphone jacks are immediately above the DVD tray. It might look good on paper, but you have to find creative ways to keep the cords out of the DVD tray. I noticed that the back of the 27" monitor also collects a lot of dust. I will have to keep an eye on that. The 17" monitor on the Inspiron 530 does not have the same problem.

Great Room in the DAZ Dream Home.

Now that the computer desk is out in the open, I had to be creative about where I put other things. The DVD rack on Feodora's right is in front of the filing cabinet. Another DVD rack is in front of the cabinet where I keep the microwave oven. I used the box from my printer as a stand to elevate the XPS 8920 up to where Feodora could reach it easily. Part of a wooden chess table is on top of the printer box to make a firm platform for the computer. The Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is behind the computer tower.

Great Room in the DAZ Dream Home.

That cute little smiley face was only a buck. It has a photo cell and circuitry that is supposed to make the eyes 'dance', but it never worked. If I bump it, the eyes will wiggle around for a few seconds.

Breakfast Nook in the Great Room of the DAZ Dream Home.

The old computer desk came with a pull-out tray where I used to keep the keyboard and mouse pad. After getting the new computer installed, I remembered that the tray got jammed and was hard to move. I replaced it with the same type of white plastic tray as is on the desk for the Inspiron 530. I had to move all of that stuff again. Tipping that desk upside down was the best way to work on the underside of it.

Breakfast Nook in the Great Room of the DAZ Dream Home.

The DAZ Dream Home, exterior view.

DAZ Bailarin Del Fuego

DAZ Bailarin Del Fuego

Note: My Will states that Feodora and all of her stuff ("the doll wardrobe") goes to Our Doll Community when I kick off. That does NOT include this computer system. I only call it "Feodora's computer" for the fantasy.

Thank you all for your kind comments. The efficiency of the room arrangement is mostly due to the space limitations. Feodora's crate used to block some of the light from the window. That light still bothered me, and fell on the 17" monitor for the Inspiron 530. I used a photo umbrella to block more of the light. I knew I would not be comfortable leaving the old computer desk where it was.

Rearranging the furniture"Where do you want this piano, lady?"

Feodora and I discussed rearranging the furniture so that she would be comfortable using her new computer. The original plan was to move the old computer desk across the room to the corner beside the television, which I did. The first time I moved her crate, I put it beside the microwave oven with the short side toward the wall. The crate is tall and wide enough that it blocked her view from the computer desk. She could not see the monitor screen from the Lay-Z-Boy, either. The crate sat there for a few days while I mulled over the possibilities.

Here are some pictures of how the apartment looked before. Right-click the pictures to "Open link in new tab" for a larger view. When I first moved in, I used Feodora's crate as a coffee table.

After some trial and error, we settled on an arrangement of the room contents. Feodora's crate was still beside the microwave oven cart. First I moved it out of the way. Next I slid the XS 8920 system unit (on top of the printer box) next to the microwave cart.

Eventually I decided to put Feodora's crate in the northwest corner. To do that, I had to move the filing cabinet out so the bird cages could remain by the window. I decided that the best place to put the filing cabinet was in the corner beside the old computer desk. This meant that I had to take everything off the computer desk, move it out of the way, put the filing cabinet in the corner, then put the computer desk next to the filing cabinet, and lastly put everything back on it again.

TV cable was installed in the apartment before I moved in. Wiremold runs along the wall surface from the front door to the corner, terminating at a utility box. The Gateway tower case fits nicely under this utility box, so the space under it is not wasted. Feodora's crate fits flat against the Gateway tower. I would like to say that I put the Gateway tower back there before I moved the crate, but I had forgotten about it. I had to move the crate out, put the tower in place, then put the crate back again. I got some good exercise that day, and Feodora got a good laugh watching me.

There is a five-light candle sconce on the north wall of the apartment. It has almost always been partly hidden by Feodora's crate. Now that the crate and the rolling garment rack are on that wall, it is completely hidden from view. {sigh} The garment rack is closer to the wall than was the crate, so I still use a photo umbrella to keep light off the 17" monitor.

These pictures illustrate the current layout of the living room (September 3, 2017). Right-click the pictures to "Open link in new tab" for a larger view.

Northwest view Northeast view

Southwest view Southeast view

Logged

"Are the stars out tonight? I don't know if it's cloudy or bright, I only have eyes for you, dear.

The moon may be high, But I can't see a thing in the sky, 'Cause I only have eyes for you."Art Garfunkel

Trixie and Dixie are Private Secretary inflatable dolls.Esperanza is a Tera Patrick inflatable doll.see my gallery for their pictures

An apartment will never be a real home. I might be too picky, but I wish I had a place that I owned. I made some bad investments that cost me my house. With these hurricanes, I see folks who are worse off, so I cannot complain.

Logged

"Are the stars out tonight? I don't know if it's cloudy or bright, I only have eyes for you, dear.

The moon may be high, But I can't see a thing in the sky, 'Cause I only have eyes for you."Art Garfunkel

Trixie and Dixie are Private Secretary inflatable dolls.Esperanza is a Tera Patrick inflatable doll.see my gallery for their pictures